Long live the cup!

The US finally emerged out of the Davis Cup desert winning the oldest tennis trophy to end a 12-year drought, its longest since the 1920s.

But the question is - isn't it a paradox? The wealthiest nation on the planet, and the undisputed tennis heavyweight, had to wait for 12 years to win the Davis Cup which it had earlier won 31 times in its more than 100-year history. The victory was also its first on home soil in 15 years.

The last time the US won the Davis Cup was in 1995. Since then, three Americans - Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi and Andy Roddick - won 16 Grand Slam titles between them, but as a nation drew a blank in the biggest team event in tennis.

Now that the Davis Cup is back on American soil, it is, in typical Yankee style, being hailed as one of the biggest sporting events. The fact that many of its elite players often gave it a miss for the more lucrative Grand Slam titles is conveniently forgotten.

For long, in the 80s and early 90s, American players were indifferent to playing as a team while the event itself was thought to be irrelevant in context of the multi-million dollar ATP circuit. US players had to be cajoled and national pride evoked before a team could take shape.

It is in stark contrast to other countries, particularly the smaller ones, where playing in the Davis Cup is the ultimate goal, and the pinnacle of success for a tennis player. This is, I suspect, the charm and curse of the Davis Cup.

These thoughts passed my mind as I watched (on Dubai Sports) Bob and Mike Bryan beat Igor Andreev and Nikolay Davydenko 7-6 (7-4), 6-4, 6-2 to clinch the decisive doubles.

Music blared, fireworks exploded, champagne flowed and red, white and blue confetti fell from the stadium's ceiling at the Memorial Coliseum in Portland. One could have easily mistaken it for a top-chart heavyweight night at the Madison Square Garden.

The doubles clash was certainly the highlight of the weekend. It was a fast and furious duel involving as much teamwork as theatrics. It was blatantly physical, constantly power-packed, and right through a bout of wits and guts.

In a way it was as intense and dramatic as the Australia vs South Africa one-day clash in the Super Eight stage of the 2007 World Cup. Remember that match? Australia scored 377 for six and South Africa replied with 294. At one stage, the South Africans were 160 for no loss in just 21 overs - a brilliant throw by Shane Watson from the deep ran out AB di Villiers.

Back to tennis and some more thoughts on Davis Cup.

Davis Cup is to tennis what Fifa World Cup is to soccer. Where the soccer World Cup is extensive and extravagant, Davis Cup is intensive and indeed irresistible.

Take the draw for the two events for example. The World Cup soccer draw, as we witnessed last week, is a global television drama, a celebration of an event which is not due for another two years at least.

The Davis Cup draw, by contrast, is more ceremonial. It is done the day before the actual match, and the head of state of the host city is usually the guest of honour. Even more interesting is that the Davis Cup is a year-long saga, every year, unlike the soccer World Cup which is a compressed one-month event held every four years.

But both are premium sporting events and much sought after. Only 12 countries have won the Davis Cup so far, just five more than the soccer World Cup which has been won by seven nations. At the start, however, more than 200 countries in case of soccer and more than 130 in case of tennis enter the fray.

Davis Cup is one of the oldest team events in sports having started at the beginning of the previous century by four Harvard University students. It is named after one of them - Dwight F Davis who designed the tournament format and commissioned the trophy from his own funds.

Since then the Davis Cup has had a long and eventual journey, and witnessed some of the greatest tennis matches played by the best of players of different eras.

One of the most interesting stories I have read about the Davis Cup involves the cup itself. It certainly is one of the oldest, and heaviest having taken on an additional 16 plaques and castings in 2002. It now stands 110 cms tall.

It is also as much loved as hated. Its journey to the Paris night clubs in the 1930 is well documented. But there were some who did not appreciate its value so much. In fact, the wife of Australian legend Norman Brookes hated it for its unwieldy size and weight. Finally, the Davis Cup has survived a century without much damage to its shape and structure unlike two other equally famous mementoes.

The original FA Cup was stolen never to be seen again early in the previous century - from a jewellery shop in Birmingham after Aston Villa had won it.

The Fifa World Cup, on the other hand, was stolen in the 1960s before it was recovered by a dog called Pickles just in time for it to be handed over to the 1996 winners England.

Long live the Davis Cup!